Journal of American Science, 2010;6(12) http://www.americanscience.org Raising Awareness of Deaf Students and their School Care-Givers about First Aid Intervention in Medical Emergencies Rabab El-Sayed Hassan *1 and Samar Elhoseiny Abd-Elraouf 2 1 Pediatric Nursing, 2 Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University. Mansoura, Egypt * biboelsayed@yahoo.com Abstract: Objectives: To assess and raise the awareness of deaf students and their school care-givers about first aid intervention in medical emergencies. Participants: All deaf students in both the preparatory and secondary levels of education in a school for the deaf, who were under 18 years old (n = 44), in addition to school dormitories care- givers (n = 2) were participated in this study. Research Hypothesis: An implementation of first aid intervention program would have a positive outcome on raising awareness of deaf students and their school care-givers in medical emergencies. Methods: Participants' knowledge and skills were assessed using pre and post test questionnaire sheet contained thirty seven quiz multiple choices statement questions in Arabic language. Moreover, post-test intervention didactic and practical learning sessions consisted of six video films on DVD-ROM are presented to the participants accompanied by sign language translation in order to achieve the research objectives. Results: An intervention program showed a clear positive outcome on raising awareness of deaf students and their school care-givers about first aid intervention in medical emergencies. The highest percentage of deaf students (61.4%) obtained the lowest sum score lies between zero to less than 25% in the pre-intervention phase, while about half of them (45.5%) obtained sum score lies between 50 to less than 75%, and more than tenth (11.3%) obtained the highest sum score that lies between 75 to 100% in the post-intervention phase, which revealed statistical significant differences in the participants' knowledge of skills at p=0.001 and 0.000. Similarly, pre knowledge sum scores of the two school care-givers about first aid skills rose from 43.2% and 63.2% respectively reached to the mastery level of 100% in response to the study intervention programmed. Conclusion: Although not enough for all items to be statistically significant, first aid intervention program raised the awareness of deaf students and their school care- givers. [Rabab El-Sayed Hassan and Samar Elhoseiny Abd-Elraouf. Raising Awareness of Deaf Students and their School Care-Givers about First Aid Intervention in Medical Emergencies. Journal of American Science 2010;6(12):1160- 1168]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.americanscience.org . Keywords: Deaf children; First aid; school-age; Care-givers. 1. Introduction: Hearing disability has gained great interest in the last decades. This growing interest stemmed from its devastating effects on communication, person’s life and the economics of countries (1). International statistics for children with hearing impairment are reported to be 2-6 per 1000 live birth (2). Hearing loss represents a significant public health problem especially when compared to other commonly known childhood diseases. In Egypt, profound hearing loss is shown to be 6-7 per 1000 child (3). Emergency situations are challenging for everyone (4). When someone becomes ill or injured there is usually a short period of time before get a professional medical assistance. That length of time is most critical to the victim. What someone do, or don't do during that period of time can make the difference between life and death. By having some first aid training and knowing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) the trained person can have a major impact to the successful outcome of a medical emergency (5). First aid is the initial assistance or care of a suddenly sick or injured person. It is the vital initial care we all feel an impulse to give as soon as possible after an accident or illness. So, first aid is an important part of everyday life, both at home, work or at play. Everyone should learn first aid and be willing to administer basic care until emergency assistance arrives. Not every incident requiring first aid is a life-and-death situation. First aid knowledge is commonly used to manage minor injuries at home or work (10). Children on the whole are more capable of learning first aid and applying that knowledge sensibly. Children usually do struggle to save others lives, but at least if they know the technique they can do something better. Inspite of there are special children out there for whom the knowledge may be inappropriate, but it is a minority (6). Inclusive first aid programme helps people with disabilities play a full role in learning life-saving skills. It is a unique programme designed to work with groups or individuals who may require a more flexible approach to learning first aid skills (7). In deaf http://www.americanscience.org editor@americanscience.org 1160